Rain
by Lonelyflutterby
Summary: While spending the summer at number 12 Ron and Hermione tell each other those three little words.


It's been raining for six days. But only days, never at night. We have taken to spending our days in the library reading and playing chess, and our nights outside behind the house. Remus found a way to extend the Fidelius charm surrounding Number Twelve Grimmauld Place to include the backyard. Mrs. Weasley asked him to try so that we weren't cooped up in the house all the summer. But with all of this rain there is no way to go out during the day. So we have been sneaking out after everyone else is in bed.

Everything this summer seems slow and relaxed. No one seems to be worrying about the up coming war. No one seems worried that soon Voldemort will make his move and that Harry, Ron and I will have to leave, to go fight him. Even Harry has finally allowed himself to relax. There is nothing he can do at the moment. Not until Voldemort does something, anything. There hasn't been an attack on anyone in a few months. I think we might be letting him lull us into a false sense of security. Harry has allowed himself to get attached to Ginny. Something that he would not have done a year ago. Something that he will end up regretting when we leave. As for Ron and I, we are more in love then ever before. I still hadn't told him until few days ago. I think he knew though. I knew that he loved me even though he hadn't said it either. It's in the way he looks at me, the way he touches me. Even when we are fighting, I can tell. There was a night, a few days back, when I could have died right there and been happy.

Ron, Harry and Ginny had just finished a pick up game of quidditch and Ron was exhausted. With his back leaned up against the low brick wall, that lined the backyard, and my head against his chest, we watched as Harry and Ginny chased each other around the sky on their brooms. It felt perfect to lay there, with Ron's arm draped over me protectively and my best friends' laughter filling the air. And then there it was. Out of no where, the soft vibrating hum in Ron's chest that indicated that he had said something. If I hadn't have felt it, I wouldn't have known he had said anything at all.

"What was that Ron?" I asked as I tilted my head to hear him better.

"It was nothing. Never mind. I thought that you were sleeping." The color of his face, although hard to see in the star light, gave away his embarrassment at being caught. He obviously hadn't wanted me to hear.

"Ronald Weasley, what did you say?" I pushed myself into a sitting position and faced him.

"I… I said…," he took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say, "I said that I love you. Ok? Are you happy now?" He pushed himself up and tried to stand.

"Ron." I said and grab his arm pulling him back down to me. He was fuming as settled back into the wall and I leaned into him again. "I love you too." I said it as if I had been saying it for years. The truth is, I have been afraid to say it. We spent so much time fighting before we let ourselves admit that we had feelings for each other, and we fight sometimes still. It's just hard to believe that he would want to be with someone like me. I know that he says that it doesn't matter. That he wouldn't be a Weasley if it did, but look at Percy, my blood bothers him and he was raised a Weasley. But it some how, after hearing Ron say it, it just feels right now. His arm tightens around me as I shiver at the slight breeze.

"Come on, let's go in." He say softly, the tension melting away as he helps me to my feet. "Harry, Ginny, come on, it's late." They land quickly on the ground beside us and we all head to the house.

It's been 3 days since Ron and I first said that we love each other. It's raining, again. Ginny, the boys and I have found ourselves once again in the library that we have liberated from Remus's extra-curricular activities with Tonks. We are all working on our summer homework, hopeing to have it done before the rain stops. Well, Ginny and I are doing homework. Ron and Harry are fighting over the definition of some word they have found in their DADA book.

"Just go look it up in the dictionary, Ron. I know I'm right." Harry's voice drifts over to where I'm sitting and I turn back History of Magic book, trying to block out the noise.

"Wow, I've never been inside one of those!" I exclaim, upon finding a picture of an Egyptian pyramid, and hear Ron and Harry burst into a fight of laughter. "What? What's so funny?"

"I've never been in a dictionary either, Hermione." Ron manages in between breaths.

"Honestly Ronald! I was talking the pyramids we are supposed to be writing about." Huffing I turn back to my work and ignore Ron and Harry as they continue to crack jokes. It has been a long time since they have made jokes at my expense and it catches me off guard. Before I know it's happening a single tear slides down my cheek.

"Hermione, come on now. It was funny. It's not often that you make a fool of yourself. You can't blame us for taking advantage of the opportunity." Harry says, only pushing knives deeper in. It feels like I have been stabbed in the back, just like it did back in first year. The silent tears fall freely now, as I turn my back on them in an effort to hide just how much pain they can still inflict on me.

I feel a hand rest on shoulder and warm breath on my neck as Ron leans over to whisper in my ear, "I'm sorry, Love. We just weren't expecting you to say that. Don't listen to Harry, you are not a fool. He is just being a prat. I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you too, but it still hurts, you know." I'm trying hard to get my emotions under control.

"I know, Love. I know." He comes around to face me to brush the tears off my face and kiss me. Gently he takes my hand in his and stands, pulling me to him. I wrap my arms around him and realize that he does love, and that he would never do anything if he knew that it was going to hurt me. Pulling away he leads me out of the room, not even glancing at Harry as we pass. He leads me down the hall and into the room that I share with Ginny. He sits me down on the edge of my bed and goes to my dresser. I'm confused as he opens the bottom drawer and pulls out the over sized t-shirt that I nicked from him at the beginning of the summer. He returns to me and pulls back up to him. His hands play with the hem of my shirt as his lips play along mine.

"Ron." I murmur as his hands slide me shirt up and over my head.

"Shhhh, It's late" He soothes as he kisses me and unclasps my bra.

Letting my bra slide off my shoulders and onto the floor Ron moves on to the task of removing my pants. My hands run through his hair as he find the button of my jeans and slips them off of me. I lean in to kiss him but he pulls back and reaches for the night shirt. He bunches it up in his hands and slips my arms into the wholes, bringing it up and over my head before pulling it down to cover the rest of my body. "It's late." He says again pulling me to the bed. He kicks of his shoes and lays down pulling me with him. I settle in beside him and lay my head on chest. His arm comes up protectively, just as it had the night in the back garden.

"I love you, Hermione." He says in a low calming voice. Unlike the night like first time he is not embarrassed to say it this time. When he says it this time it is prefect. It's a declaration, an apology and a promise for the future.

"I love you too, Ron." I say, just as we slip off to sleep.


End file.
